A few brief notes:
*This is, for all intents and purposes, a sequel to "Tear Down This Wall". I picked up the story about a week after "Tear Down This Wall" leaves off. Unlike TDTW, which takes place between "Theatricality" and "Funk" in the "new" timeline, this one goes right in and rewrites "Funk". Therefore, it DOES contain spoilers for "Funk", as the episode originally played out.
*I never write sequels. Never direct ones, anyway. I tend to go in more for the "spiritual successor" thing, so this was new to me. I enjoyed it immensely, when I wasn't tearing my hair out, that is. :D
*Let's do this shit!
Over the next couple of weeks, it got so that Finn was more intimately acquainted with the musical Chicago than he had ever dreamed he would be. He frequently woke in the middle of the night with a start, clutching his head as if he could physically squeeze those catchy lyrics and addictive rhythms right on out of his brain.
Not that he would have wanted them gone, even if he could squeeze them out. He'd probably just pick them up off the mattress and stuff them right back in, no matter how much it hurt. And hurt it did. There was something about his growing enthusiasm for the songs, the story, Kurt's voice, the overall experience… and Kurt's voice, which struck him as almost unhealthy.
It was one of those things that gave him a weird feeling that he couldn't describe. Kind of like his entire relationship with Kurt Hummel nowadays.
"Dude. I'm sorry, but I gotta hear this one more time," Finn said, hitting the back button on the car's CD player just as "I Can't Do It Alone" ended.
"With or without my accompaniment?" Kurt asked with a giddy smile. Finn's unexpected growing love of musical theater gave him quite the rush, and he was happy to oblige the other boy's flights of lyrical fancy as many times as he could.
Finn scoffed, as if the question was completely ridiculous.
"God, with, of course."
"Too kind, Sir. Too kind," Kurt whispered. Blush joined with giddy smile, and for a moment, as they took the exit onto the freeway, he forgot everything except the music.
And Finn.
And Finn, likewise, forgot everything except the music, and Kurt's pitch-perfect duet with whatshername, that hot chick from Zorro...
"Finn! Jesus!" Kurt screamed as the car veered into the other lane. Horns blasted all around them from angry fellow motorists, and Finn quickly pulled back into his lane.
...and driving, of course.
"Sorry, sorry! Shit!"
"God in heaven, Finn! If you're going to drive like a blind chimpanzee with Parkinson's, do it in your own car!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Baby, it's okay," Kurt was stroking the dashboard, "It's okay."
It happened like that a lot.
And then, there was the way his relationship with Kurt was evolving, which was another story completely.
"Well, I have good news, bad news, and ambiguous news," Kurt had told Finn, Brittany and Mercedes earlier that day during lunch.
"Good news first," Mercedes said.
"No, bad news," Finn mumbled around a mouthful of Kurt's sandwich.
Carole was still in "don't know what to do with myself" mode after the accident, and had taken to making lunches for "her boys" to take to work and school. Finn was currently eating Kurt's lunch; Something was always wrong with the food Carole tried to make for him, and he always happily handed over his food to Finn, preferring to take his chances with the cafeteria.
Not that Finn minded. Turning down a free sandwich was like turning down a free hooker. Probably.
"I kind of wanted to hear the..." Brittany trailed off.
"And, I agree, Brittany. Best to start with the ambiguous news, which is," Kurt began, "That Coach Sylvester, most magnanimously, has decided not to kick me off the Cheerios, even though I violated my contract with her by breaking my ankle."
"Alright!" Mercedes clapped. Even though she was no longer a part of the Cheerios, she was totally supportive of Kurt's enthusiasm for the program, and knew that he had been worried about his position for awhile, especially after Katie Cannon had been kicked off last month for sneezing at the top of the pyramid.
"Man, that's great," Finn smiled a moment later, once he figured out what Kurt had actually said. He sighed with relief. "Because, I woulda been... really pissed if you'd gotten kicked off. You know, because of... me."
Kurt tucked his chin into his chest and gazed up at him with a quiet, demure smile. God, that kid's eyes were big. He waited a little too long before continuing,
"The good news, therefore, is that Brittany and I will be traveling to compete in, and with any luck, win, Nationals next week."
"Yay!" Brittany squealed, leaning over the table for a tight, super close hug. That went on far too long. And ended up spilling Mercedes' milk.
"That's great. Okay, so, what's the bad news?" Mercedes asked loudly and irritably as she tried to use her napkins to mop up the growing puddle, hoping that Brittany would get the hint and let go.
"The bad news... oh, god, Brittany, this hurts. This really hurts-"
"You're so soft," Brittany whispered. "You're so squishy, like my cat..."
Kurt wrenched himself free from the girl's talon-like grip, and sat back, attempting to straighten his fabulous blazer from where Brittany had rumpled it.
"This is Brooks Brothers, Brittany," he snapped, amazingly not stumbling over any of the alliteratives. "God!"
"His name is Potato... My cat, I mean." Brittany finished.
"Okay, so Kurt, dude. What's the bad news?" Finn asked, trying to route the conversation back around to the news, before Kurt went off on an emotional rant about the hand-tailored seams of his favorite jacket. Again. Or Brittany started telling them all about her cat. Also again.
Kurt smoothed down his still-immaculate hair, took a deep, cleansing breath, and closed his eyes.
"Oh. Of course. It's down to that. The bad news. Well, the bad news is that the day of Nationals also coincides with the penultimate performance date of our school's production of Chicago."
"Aw, man, Kurt, I'm sorry." Mercedes said.
"What?" Finn yelled. "That's bullshit!"
"Hey, cool it with the language," Mr. Schue, who was suddenly there, hissed. "Guys, I'm on lunch duty today, remember? Language like that can get you sent to ISS."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Schue, but it is! It's bullsh-"
"Well, that's fine; you're free to express your opinions. Just keep it down!"
"You're on lunch duty again?" Brittany asked. "Sometimes it seems like you're the only teacher at this school..."
Everyone ignored Brittany, and returned their attention to Kurt.
"No, no. It's not so bad. I'll still be there to perform on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. But, it does present a problem. Who will take over as Miss Velma Kelly while I'm gone?"
"We'll figure something out. How about Tina? I bet she could kick some ass at it," Mercedes grinned.
"It's true, she could. But it's such short notice, and it's so many lines, and all those songs... I feel awful imposing on her like this. Or anyone else, for that matter."
The bell rang, and the cafeteria began to empty. Finn, as had become habit, remained with Kurt, dumping his tray for him and carrying his stuff to his next class. Brittany was making a great show of hanging behind as well, and she kept in step with the two of them, eyes lowered.
"Well, Finn," Kurt said personably, "I certainly do appreciate your support."
"What do you mean? I've been carrying your stuff for weeks."
"Not that. I mean your... rather untoward, yet highly flattering outburst earlier."
"Oh, yeah. Well, I mean..."
"You really feel very passionately about this play. I wish you hadn't dropped out. I think you should be a part of it, too."
"No, no, man. Musicals aren't my thing. Like, at all."
"Hmm."
"And the, uh... outburst... that was because I thought penultimate meant something else. I thought it had to do with, like, prison."
Kurt shot him a confused, pitying look, and Brittany shook her head sadly.
"He's just so dumb," she whispered to Kurt. "Why do you hang out with him?"
Kurt sighed and braced himself for the long hop down the corridor to his fourth period. Finn remained at his side, while Brittany trailed farther and farther behind.
"Finn, would you mind... after school, taking a little side trip?" Kurt asked suddenly.
"Huh? Yeah, sure. Anywhere you want. Name it."
"The Power Strip. The, uh, doctor says..." Kurt lowered his voice, and a flush came over his cheeks, "That the cast can come off in a few days. And I should start doing rehabilitative exercises to get back on my feet, as it were. He suggested Wii Fit as an option, and I think that's what I'll do."
"Wii Fit? Hey, yeah. That's supposed to be kind of... awesome."
"It's supposed to be for sedentary little old ladies. But, it does have the benefit of being highly intuitive, with an array of exercises, and I can do it in the privacy of my own basement, unlike physical therapy, which... no."
Finn felt a little overwhelmed as he nodded, and a wave of sadness laced with guilt washed over him. While certainly not the messiest aspect of Kurt's recovery, it was still just unsavory and pathetic enough that Finn felt kind of awful for him, and for causing the injury in the first place.
It was funny, he mused, how the aftermath of Kurt's heroic rescue was proving to be every bit as mundane and depressing as the original act had been epic and awesome.
It was like Superman saving Lois Lane from the train tracks, and then coming down with a bad case of jock itch. Totally unfair.
Of course, he quickly realized that such an analogy painted him as Lois Lane. Another step taken on the road to fully becoming The Girl In The Strange Relationship Between Kurt and Finn.
Or, Kurt and Finnessa. Puck had called him that once.
There, in his head, was an image of Finnessa (Finn, except with longer hair and wearing a dress) tied to the train tracks, waiting for SuperKurt to swoop in to the rescue.
And then off to the pharmacy to get some Tough Actin' Tinactin...
With a kiss.
He cringed.
Did Kurt even remember that? Finn honestly didn't know. Kurt had been so whacked out on Vicodin at the time that Finn probably could have given him a lap dance in a Kermit the Frog suit and Kurt would have just replied with, "Oh, cool."
But the fact remained, that in the heat of... something, Finn Hudson had kissed Kurt Hummel.
And they hadn't talked about it.
What the hell had it meant?
"So... anyway..." Kurt was saying in an irritable tone, aware that Finn hadn't said anything in about a minute.
Finn quickly turned back to his friend and semi-stepbrother, putting on a sheepish smile and trying to set aside his humiliating reverie.
"Totally! We'll go. Power Strip. It'll be awesome. Anything you need, we'll do it. Anything."
"Alright. Thank you."
"Hey. I mean it, Kurt. Anything."
"...Thank you."
Finn nodded. They had arrived at Kurt's class. Finn needlessly held the already open door as Kurt hopped to his desk.
"Alright, you good?" Finn asked from the doorway. A few students chuckled.
"Yes, Finn, I'm fine. Thank you. You have 30 seconds to get upstairs to Ms. Ado's' class," Kurt said through a tight smile.
"I'll make it. See you later!" Finn grinned, nodding to Kurt's teacher, who looked impatient and overly caffeinated.
Exactly how Finn felt. He wished he could blame his feeling on caffeine.